Former New England Patriots NFL football tight end Aaron Hernandez stands during a bail hearing in Fall River Superior Court in Fall River, Mass. / Ted Fitzgerald, AP

by Kevin Manahan, USA TODAY Sports

by Kevin Manahan, USA TODAY Sports

A judge has granted a stay in the civil lawsuit filed by a Connecticut man who says Aaron Hernandez shot him in the face in February in Florida.

Alexander Bradley said he lost an eye when Hernandez fired a gun while they were arguing in a car after leaving a strip joint. Bradley's attorney has alleged that Hernandez dumped his client in an alley to die.

Hernandez's lawyers requested a temporary stay until criminal charges against the former tight end have been settled. That stay was granted Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams.

Hernandez has been indicted for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a friend and 27-year-old semipro football player, and his attorneys argued that, because Bradley's lawyers want to link their client's shooting with the murder and gun charges against Hernandez in Massachusetts, Hernandez would be forced to cite the Fifth Amendment.

"Under these circumstances, if the instant civil suit is not stayed, Mr. Hernandez must necessarily invoke his Fifth Amendment rights here, and special circumstances exist requiring a temporary stay of the Lawsuit pending resolution of the Bristol County Action," Hernandez's lawyers argued.

Hernandez is scheduled to be arraigned on the murder indictment, and five accompanying gun charges, in Fall River, Mass., on Friday.

Stephen B. Gillman, Hernandez's attorney, said in court documents the first count of Bradley's complaint alleges the shooting was "the result of negligence," but the second count alleges it was "intentional," and that Hernandez "possessed a gun which he was not legally licensed to have."

Gillman points out that Bradley appeared before the Fall River grand jury that indicted Hernandez, making it easy to connect the dots:

"It appears clear that the prosecutors in the Bristol County Grand Jury were attempting to construct a connection between the shooting of Mr. Lloyd and the allegations" in the lawsuit," Gillman said.

So, it's possible Bradley's lawyers would try to do the same.

Gillman also notes the investigation of a 2012 double homicide that could be linked to Hernandez and argues that the Lloyd shooting, the Bradley lawsuit and the grand jury investigating the double homicide "each involve allegations of illegal possession of a gun and the use of a gun against a person."

That link, Gillman argues, makes it difficult for Hernandez to answer charges in the lawsuit without possibly incriminating himself in the other cases.